Department of Physics Papers
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
1-1997
Publication Source
Physical Review Letters
Volume
78
Issue
2
Start Page
386
Last Page
389
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.386
Abstract
Irradiation of a giant unilamellar lipid bilayer vesicle with a focused laser spot leads to a tense pressurized state which persists indefinitely after laser shutoff. If the vesicle contains another object it can then be gently and continuously expelled from the tense outer vesicle. Remarkably, the inner object can be almost as large as the parent vesicle; its volume is replaced during the exit process. We offer a qualitative theoretical model to explain these and related phenomena. The main hypothesis is that the laser trap pulls in lipid and ejects it in the form of submicron objects, whose osmotic activity then drives the expulsion.
Recommended Citation
Moroz, J. D., Nelson, P. C., Bar-Ziv, R., & Moses, E. (1997). Spontaneous Expulsion of Giant Lipid Vesicles Induced by Laser Tweezers. Physical Review Letters, 78 (2), 386-389. http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.78.386
Date Posted: 01 May 2017
This document has been peer reviewed.